ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.50.

Several analysts recently issued reports on ARR shares. Zacks Research upgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

NYSE:ARR opened at $13.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $15.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.50. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a one year low of $13.16 and a one year high of $19.31.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.72. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a net margin of 44.90% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm had revenue of $113.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.98 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 21.7%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Daniel Staton sold 35,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.86, for a total transaction of $564,346.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ARMOUR Residential REIT

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the second quarter valued at about $6,536,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 15.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,745,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,802,000 after buying an additional 619,020 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 18.0% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 59,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 9,038 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $100,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 34,376.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 5,844 shares during the period. 54.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About ARMOUR Residential REIT

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc is a real estate investment trust that invests primarily in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies and government-sponsored enterprises, including Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Its portfolio may include fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage securities, as well as other investments related to the U.S. residential mortgage market.

The company seeks to generate income from its investments and manages interest-rate and prepayment risks through portfolio composition, financing arrangements and hedging strategies.